One Last Ride For Liberty Corner First Aid Squad After Disbanding

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — At midnight on Monday, the Liberty Corner First Aid Squad(LCAFS) made its last ambulance run to Summit Overlook Hospital with two patients in tow.

After nearly six decades of providing life-saving emergency medical services to residents and businesses of BernardsTownship, the all-volunteer squad ceased operations.

The decision was made "due to increased call volumes, coupled with all-volunteer staffing issues," according to a resolution the Bernards Township Committee passed at its Tuesday night meeting. Read More: Liberty Corner First Aid Squad Halts Operation After 57 Years

The first aid squad, established in 1965, notified the township on Aug. 5 that they were facing "a critical EMT staffing crisis, a crisis shared on a state and national level."

"Staffing shortage isn’t a unique challenge only to LCFAS as many organizations throughout New Jersey are witnessing massive turnover and suffering from loss of volunteers," said JadAbousleiman, EMT, LCFAS Captain.

The squad also had a final barbecue on Labor Day.

"LCFAS’s volunteers are like family, although we come from a variety of backgrounds and stages in life, there is one quality we all have in common- a shared passion of wanting to give back to our community and saving lives," Jad Abousleiman, LCFAS captain, said. "We have one volunteer, a retired nurse, Charlotte Meiner-Flohl, who has served as a volunteer EMT for over 47 years – long before I was even born."

In addition to providing emergency medical care, Liberty Corner First Aid Squad provided stand-by coverage at local community events, hosted numerous youth groups for tours of the equipment and ambulance fleet, and provided life-saving courses to community residents.

"We are extremely proud of all we have accomplished in nearly 60 years and forever grateful to the community who believed in us and invested in our volunteer organization," said Dave "Phil" Lai-Len, President, and 13-year volunteer, LCFAS.

"It’s been an honor for me to work alongside such a dedicated group of volunteers- they will sorely be missed," Lai-Len said.

With the dissolution, emergency services will now be offered through Atlantic Ambulance Corp. of Livingston. The township had initially awarded a contract to Atlantic Ambulance Corp. in September 2019 for limited hours.

A resolution passed on Aug. 23 expanded Atlantic Ambulance's services into the Liberty Corner section of the township where they will operate 24/7. Additionally, Atlantic Ambulance will continue to operate on nights and weekends in the Basking Ridge area (which is currently the existing hours), according to Township Administrator Pat Monaco.

"I really would like to thank them for their honorable service to our community. I appreciate all the love and care day in and day out they gave to this community," said Committeewoman Janice Fields at the last Township Committee meeting. "It's hard to have to say goodbye after all these years of service to our community. I think every one of us is severely touched by this."

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